Michális Dórizas ( el, Μιχάλης Δώριζας; April 16, 1886 – October 21, 1957) was a Greek athlete who competed in throwing events at the

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

and

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

. He won a silver medal in the javelin throw in 1908 and a bronze in the stone throw in 1906. In the discus throw his best achievement was fifth place in 1908, and in the shot put he placed 11th in 1912. Dorizas was born to Greek parents in Constantinople, where he graduated from the

Robert College The American Robert College of Istanbul ( tr, İstanbul Özel Amerikan Robert Lisesi or ), often shortened to Robert, or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary ...

. In 1913 he moved to the United States to study at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. In the U.S. he soon became one of the best heavyweight wrestlers, winning the intercollegiate championships in 1914-1916. He also played as an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

guard for two years and continued to compete in throwing events. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served as a U.S. Army Sergeant in France, and after the war as a Greek-Turkish-English interpreter at the

Paris Peace Conference, 1919 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and as a geographer with the American Section of the International Commission on Mandates. In 1915 he received a master's degree in philosophy and began teaching geography and working on his PhD. He was voted as most popular Penn professor for several years. In 1943, the

Friars Senior Society The Friars Senior Society of the University of Pennsylvania, commonly nicknamed Friars, is the oldest undergraduate secret society at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1899, it recognizes student leaders who ...

called him "the faculty member who the greatest service to the University during the course of the year." He continued teaching at Penn until his death in 1957.

References

External links

* 1886 births Constantinopolitan Greeks 1957 deaths Greek male javelin throwers Olympic athletes of Greece Athletes (track and field) at the 1906 Intercalated Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Greece Robert College alumni Sportspeople from Istanbul Greek players of American football American football guards Penn Quakers football players Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) United States Army personnel of World War I {{Greece-athletics-bio-stub